Somebody’s crying. What a racket! Wah, wah, wah, waaaaaaah! I swim to the surface and I see the king’s daughter sitting by the well. I try to be courteous about it. “What ails you?” I ask. “You’re weeping so hard that a stone would show pity.”

“It’s my ball,” she wails. “My golden ball. It has fallen into the well.”

My first thought is to just get her ball so she’ll shut up. Then I think to myself, wait, she’s a princess. Do her a favor and she’ll have to do something for you. What do you want from this spoiled girl?

Advancement, that’s what!

The Frog in the Well in The Frog King, or Iron Henry, Grimms. Illustration by Marianne Stokes.